Keto Beurre Blanc Cauliflower Rice | Recipeish | Gustus Vitae

Cauliflower rice gets made badly more often than it gets made well. Dumped in a pan wet, steamed into a pile of damp confetti, then apologized for. It doesn't have to be that. Treat it like rice pilaf instead of a diet food: toast it dry, then finish it off the heat with cold butter and French Beurre Blanc Seasoning with Grey Salt. What you get is glossy, herby, faintly lemony, and rich enough that nobody at the table asks what happened to the actual rice. Two real ingredients, one pan, twenty minutes, and effectively no carbs.

• Yield: 4 as a side
• Time: 20 minutes
• Storage Notes: 3 days covered in the fridge. Reheat gently in a pan; the microwave will break the butter.
• Difficulty: Very Easy

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large head cauliflower, riced, or 1 lb bag frozen riced cauliflower
• About 1 Tbs olive oil
• 5 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• About 3 Tbs French Beurre Blanc Seasoning, plus more for the top
• A splash of heavy cream, only if you want it plusher
• A squeeze of lemon at the end

DIRECTIONS

1. Core the cauliflower, break it into florets, and pulse it in a food processor in two batches until it looks like couscous, not paste. Six or seven short pulses per batch, and stop while some pieces are still uneven; a box grater works too. Using frozen? Thaw it completely and wring it out in a kitchen towel. You will be shocked at what comes out.
2. Toast it, don't steam it. Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high, spread the rice in a single layer, and leave it alone for 3 minutes. Then stir and keep going another 3 to 5, until a few grains are golden and the pan has gone quiet. This is the whole recipe: cauliflower is more than 90% water, and every bit you drive off now is a bit that won't thin your butter later.
3. Kill the heat. Pull the pan off the burner completely and give it thirty seconds. Now add the butter a few cubes at a time, swirling and stirring until each addition vanishes into a glossy sauce that coats every grain. 
4. Season last. Stir in about 3 Tbs of the seasoning and taste. Everything a classic beurre blanc takes an afternoon and a reduction to build is already in there: grey salt, real butter, onion, vinegar, white pepper, tarragon, chervil, lemon zest. Those are exactly the flavors that flatten under sustained heat, which is why they go in at the end. Add the cream now if you want it richer, then the lemon.
5. Pack it into a cup, turn it out onto the plate, dust the top with more seasoning, and eat it hot.

NOTES & VARIATIONS

Pistachios. Chop a small handful coarsely and scatter them over the top with a final dusting of seasoning. The crunch against the soft grains is the difference between a side dish and something you plate for company.

Too wet. If it looks loose after the butter goes in, it didn't toast long enough. Back over medium heat for 90 seconds, stirring, then off again. Never add liquid to fix cauliflower rice.

Make it dinner. Seared scallops, roasted salmon, or a chicken thigh with crackling skin, set right on top so the juices run into the grains. Dust the protein with French Beurre Blanc Seasoning before it hits the pan and the whole plate speaks the same language.

The applications from here are endless: under braised short ribs, alongside anything from the grill, folded with a handful of parmesan and baked until the top browns. But make it plain the first time, glossy and hot straight out of the pan, and see how far four ingredients get you.